What I'm trying to do
I've been thinking a lot in the past couple of days about the direction I want this blog to take, and Pitchfork today has, not one, but two good pieces on exactly what I've been thinking about. Well, a piece and a quote.
From their review of LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver": "I'm not sure if you rapidly skim the same articles as I do, but apparently 72% of the internet is now made up of free mp3s, while another 14% is accompanying blurbs."
This is decidedly not what I am trying to do.
The other article, Poptimist #2, is a pretty thoughtful meditation on finding new music (and music writing) to love in an age where any song is available to you at any time. There's hardly any time to get to know a given song, let alone write about it compellingly, before its time to move on to the next next big thing.
And, yes, you could say this is a problem created by the oneupmanship culture of music blog snobbery, but it's also an issue created by the democratization of the music industry/removal of big business gate keepers, etc. We're currently living the revolution, and the coming years should bring changes that I for one am not smart enough to predict. But we as listeners will develop strategies to have a meaningful connection with our music.
A semi-related defense of music snobbery after the jump...
-- Emily Hulme, www.amNY.com
As much as they're accused of elitism, I think the music blog snobs — including the oft reviled P4rk — are an important part of our current relationship with new music. A cross between the old media magazine authorities and a music savvy buddy, the blogs create a community around acts that might not have a following big enough to have a fan club in every town, but do have a couple hundred fans around the country. And, though experiencing music on a personal level can be satisfying enough, there's a social aspect to it as well.
I like just about any group I've ever heard perform live. There's something about the interaction of a band with the crowd that makes it special. But there have been countless times I've heard a new band out at a show and have gotten the album to find the group is actually not to my taste at all on CD. Which doesn't take away my enjoyment of the live show. Experiencing music can be about so much more than sound waves hitting your eardrums.
I think its just as valid, then, if the knowledge that other people like a given band enhances (or detracts from) your own enjoyment of that band. It's human nature to want to be a part of the club.
I'm not saying wait and see how Pitchfork (or Rolling Stone, for that matter) rates an album before forming your own opinion. But I am saying it's OK to kick a track up in your playlist after you read a rave review on Stereogum or Brooklyn Vegan, and you don't have to feel like a follower.
Just some things I've been thinking about
